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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to deny reports that he had warned Netanyahu of a looming Hamas attack before Oct. 7, 2023, during a secret visit to Abu Dhabi on Sunday, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
"Netanyahu asked Sheikh Mohamed to deny the report," a person told the Associated Press (AP), who has firsthand information about the meeting.
Netanyahu's office has denied receiving any such warning.
The visit comes about a month before Israel's Oct. 27 election, in which responsibility for the Oct. 7 security failures has become a central campaign issue.
No Emirati official has publicly denied that the warning call took place, and other sources have confirmed it, Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported.
Two people briefed on Netanyahu's trip confirmed the meeting to the AP on Monday.
One said the talks focused on a Haaretz report published earlier this month that the Emirati leader had warned Netanyahu about a looming Hamas attack.
The person with firsthand information and a regional official briefed on the meeting spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the secret trip.
Netanyahu left Ben Gurion Airport shortly after noon aboard a private jet, spent roughly four hours in the UAE, and flew home the same evening.
The Israeli broadcaster said the visit appeared to consist largely of a one-on-one conversation between the two leaders.
The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment on reports about the meeting but said it maintains "open and direct lines of communication" with Israel and shares "all relevant intelligence."
After Haaretz's initial report, Netanyahu's office said the UAE had not warned him before Oct. 7 and suggested that any information may have been passed through intelligence channels.
According to reporting by Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, bin Zayed urged Netanyahu to act on the warning, but the prime minister responded with relative calm.
The two leaders spoke for 45 minutes, according to that Israeli media report.
The Emirati leader reportedly said he feared the attack would cause bloodshed, destabilize the region, and damage the 2020 Abraham Accords.
The New York Times (NYT) reported Friday that the warning never reached Israel's security chiefs and that Netanyahu pushed for calm in Gaza at a security meeting days later.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing officials in an Arab government, that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel called Netanyahu in early October 2023 to warn of an attack from Gaza after two earlier Egyptian warnings went unanswered.
Netanyahu's office said he "did not meet and did not speak with Abbas Kamel."
The Atlantic reported recently that Kamel flew to Israel 11 days before the attack to warn that Hamas appeared to be preparing a major assault.
The recent reports on the Oct. 7 warning add to mounting pressure on Netanyahu, who has blocked an independent state commission of inquiry into the failures.
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